Yes, and the Palomar in DC was a renovation of the old Radisson Barcelo Hotel. All the DC hotels are renovations of older buildings, including the George, Helix, Madera, Rouge, Topaz, and Monaco. In fact, I thought most of the Kimpton Hotels (not just the Monaco hotels) were renovations of older buildings. How many are brand new buildings?

They have been building hotels from the ground up since 1990 according to their website.

From http://www.kimptonhotels.com/about-u...on-firsts.aspx

May 1990 - First Kimpton construction that is new from ground up: Tuscan Inn in San Francisco.

Stayed for one night at the Topaz in DC. Very disappointed. Great location (right at Dupont Circle). Walkable to two metro stops. Hotel room was not ready until 6 PM. Amenities were "wrong" and not sent up until very late although I was told "oh, we're still making sure that all of your amenities are being sent up properly before we can check you in. . .". Wine had been fed exd to Topaz from Hotel Monaco - never arrived; nobody can find it - was never found nor was any follow-up provided.

Overall poor stay. Room was nice but would not be staying here again. Disappointed; was really looking forward to this stay.

The rooms are beautiful but the customer service here has always been dreadful. It was so bad in the lobby bar that my friend (who was staying here) and I walked out after waiting 15 minutes for a drink. The Monaco is probably the best Kimpton in DC.

Yes, you have summed things up nicely. I really liked the Hotel Palomar when I stayed there but will try the Monaco next time.

Received a call from the GM. Let's just say that he definitely did not make things better (is there a reason people cannot just apologize for the mistakes made?). Reason for the 6 PM check-in? They didn't have towels for the rooms according to him.

Reason for the wrong amenities? That's what it says in your profile. Umm. .. no it doesn't.

Reason why the staff never found the wine that was shipped to them and never bothered to follow-up with me? We don't have your full credit card #.

Reason why there was only one elevator running and it had the housekeeping staff with their carts in it so many times? Again, no apologies.

He offered to let me have them show me what the Topaz is really like on my next stay to DC but honestly, I saw what they are like. With so many properties in DC why give $ to them again?

A sincere "I'm sorry" would have gone a lot further in my opinion. Never happened. This is not the type of Kimpton experience I am used to.

I have stayed at the Hotel Palomar. Here you will find an opposite experience. Extraordinary customer service with very ordinary (but large) rooms that lack the soul and charm of most of the other Kimptons in DC. There is only so much you can do with an ugly concrete behemoth built in 1968.

Oh, this is crazy scary . . . I had a less than optimal Kimpton experience recently, at a different property than you.
Indeed, in my situation, the GM was also equally useless in his remarks to me.

I wholeheartedly agree with your last sentence: a sincere apology goes a long way.
When Kimpton service is typically really really good, it just makes the mediocre Kimpton stand out even more.

Well, we ARE truly are sorry that you had a less than ideal experience with us. As you state, that is definitely not the typical Kimpton experience and we want to do what we can to help remedy your impression. Could you be so kind to email me some more details to [email protected]?

Please let us make it up to you.

With appreciation,
Maggie

according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donovan_House and several other sites, Donovan House is operated by Kimpton as of today. But I don't see it anywhere on Kimpton's sites. How come?

The Donovan House is a fairly new member to the Kimpton family, and it does indeed have a home on our website:

http://www.donovanhousehotel.com/
http://www.kimptonhotels.com/hotels/hotels.aspx

We look forward to hearing your feedback if you get a chance to visit. It's a great and unique hotel!

Kimpton does develop properties from the ground up (the Argonaut in San Francisco is one of my personal favorites), but we also do renovate and acquire historic properties. Either way, we always make sure that we put a unique Kimpton stamp and feel to everything we do. Here is some more information about new developments as well future exciting plans and markets:

http://www.kimptonhotels.com/develop...velopment.aspx

Cheers,
Maggie

So, after NOT finding my wine (although the package had been there for 9 days per the signature on the FeEx receipt) and not allowing me to check in until 6 PM (and no late check out btw) and poor overall customer service I find that I was charged $4.50 for a bottle of water (small Fred) that I took from the mini-bar. This was after I presented my $10 raid the mini-bar card. The water was all that I had taken out of the mini-bar so there was a $5.50 credit on the raid card.

Again, just poor service in so many ways at this property. I would not suggest people on this board stay there; there are other MUCH better properties and much better Kimptons in DC. And no, I still do not have my box that was shipped.

UPDATED: Went to the Topaz and picked up my wine. Still wouldn't recommend this property.

Located in the theatre district. The hotel has a nice lobby and nice vibe to the place. Theme is musical in nature. Had a nice person check me in. He has been with the company for 4 days - did a really nice job. Didn't receive an amenity as I usually do at Kimpton but th suite upgrade is lovely. Wine hour was so crowded! The staff really handled it well! The sangria was really refreshing. They didn't pass any snacks around which is usually done as well. I am thinking it is due to the number of people here tonight. Bikes are available for riding around the city (along with a helmet!). I really do like Kimpton properties quite a bit. I like the fact that they treat people like people and not a number.

I have to rave about my Kimpton InTouch/Inner Circle experience today. I called to reserve a room for a conference I'm attending, and the reservation portion was just fine, except that my InTouch profile had my hyphenated last name, and I've since dropped the maiden name.

I called the InTouch number, and while talking to the employee who answered (Whitney), I asked her about a status match. She asked me to email a copy of my membership card or a screenshot showing my status. Two hours and a few minutes later, I received an email welcoming me to Inner Circle status, and another a few minutes after that, asking for my preferences!

I love the incredibly timely response!!!

Phenomenal upgrade to the Pacific Northwest Ballet Suite. Bigger than some apartments I have lived in! Nice and comfortable bed. Received my amenity. The only "weird" thing today was that I tried to get a glass of iced tea. I was told to go to the bar. Went and asked for a glass of iced tea and was told they didn't have any. Was told they only have "hot tea." I asked if they had ice and couldn't they pour the hot tea over the ice? Turned out that I was met with an attitude as though I was asking for the stupidest thing. I went across the street to Hotel 1000 and got an iced tea at their bar.

Aside from that little hiccup I think this is a great hotel. Some FTers would probably feel it's a bit dated, but I like this look!